My Custom 7mm-08

[Louca]

A while back, I built myself a rifle that is kind of like a target rifle, kind of like sniper rifle, just ... kind of the way I felt like building it. But I haven't shot it in quite a while and sort of am not interested in shooting it much any more. So I am thinking maybe I could and should sell it. But I wonder if there would be any market for it. Could anybody give me an indication if it may be desirable and if so what group of shooters might be most interested in it?

Here are the details, and also see the picture below:

Caliber: 7mm-08
Action: Winchester Model 70 Short Action (was on a .308 rifle)
Barrel: 26-inch Standard Target Douglas, contour #7
Stock: Custom from a Bishop semi-inletted blank
Overall length: 46 inches
Length of pull: 13 1/4 inches
Weight (magazine empty): 13.6 lbs
Magazine well capacity: 5 rounds



The metalwork was done by a gunsmith, and I did all the stock work and glass bedding.

The gun was somewhat inspired by some ISU style barreled actions Winchester made quite a while back. I went with the 7mm-08 round for various reasons, primarily ballistics. The receiver is milled for a cartridge charging clip (also known as a stripper clip) at the rear of the opening. The end of the barrel is tapped for a globe front sight. The barreled action is glass bedded and the barrel is floated from just in front of the receiver to the end of the stock. The barrel itself is almost half the weight of the gun. The stock shape was somewhat inspired by the Remington 40X.

The problem with building whatever you feel like building is, it may possibly not be marketable if you want to sell it. And that may be the case here. If it is, I guess I am OK with that and will just hang on to it and remember the fun I had building it.

Comments? Thoughts? Questions? Advice?

Thanks,

Lou

[Bake]

Good looking rifle, too heavy for Silhouette. Wonder what it would weigh if you chopped some barrel off?

[Louca]

According to my notes, the barrel is 6.25 lbs. Maybe chopping off a few inches might save a pound or two. What is the weight limit for silhouette?

Lou

[PawPaw]

It might make a nice beanfield rifle, or a nice F-class rifle. That type of rifle is very useful for the type of hunting I do these days, which is to sit in a box stand, play on my IPad, and watch a large field. The weight of the rifle is inconsequential, because I only carry it from the truck to the stand, about 200 yards.

Yeah, I've got stalking rifles, but a nice, accurate heavy-barreled rifle is always a pleasure to own. At the right price, I might even be interested, and I can think of about a dozen guys right off hand that would also be interested.

[MrBorland]

Nice rifle. You could chop the barrel down to 20", but math tells me that'd take less than 1-1/2 lbs off the rifle. A 22" sporter barrel would take 4 lbs off, and turn it into a nice hunting rifle, but I suppose there'd be quite a barrel channel gap.

[Bake]

Silhouetta center fire rifles weights (Max.) are:
Standard rifle: 10.2 lbs
Hunter rifle: 9 lbs

[57K]

One thing about GunBroker, there always seems to be someone looking for something that 99% of shooters would have no interest in. Presenting your rifle on a board that size is likely going to find you a buyer. If there is a buy and sell board in MI., you might even be able to do a face-to-face sell. I'm a big fan of the 7mm-08 but the next rifle I plan to buy won't weigh much more than your barrel alone. Looks like no one is giving you any idea about its value, and I can't help there either. It will probably come down to what you have invested in it as far as time and $ vs a realistic estimate for what you'll lose in selling a used rifle. It is a beautiful rifle though.

[NHSHOOTER]

A very nice looking rifle and I do like the 7-08, what kind of groups does it shoot at 100-200?

[Saltydog235]

I have two 7mm08's in Remington 700 SPS Varmint models. Both had the stocks replaced with B&C Medalist, both are set up identically with the exception of scope and barrel length. I had the last one cut from 26" to 20" but with the heavier scope it doesn't weight much different overall, just a whole lot more maneuverable in the tight confines of the stand. Both of them and shoot the wings off a knat type accurate too.

[kahrguy]

Great looking rifle. Ohhh that stock is soo nice . What scope you running on it. Will you hunt with it. Gota try some egg matchs for fun.

I hunt with a custom that weights 10.8lbs, geat long range rifle.

[Louca]

A very nice looking rifle and I do like the 7-08, what kind of groups does it shoot at 100-200?

According to my notebook, the best group I recorded was 0.588 inches c-t-c @ 100 yds. That was with 40.5 gn of 4350, with the 150 gn Nosler BTSP seated for an OAL of 2.825 inches. But I really didn't (and still don't) know much about bench rest shooting.

In all my experimenting, I never got groups larger than 1 inch @ 100 yds. The scope I used, shown on the gun, was a Leupold 12X Target scope that came off another rifle and maybe not the best for bench rest shooting.

Also, I always shot from sandbags on an "ok" shooting bench which was definitely not the best. I did try IMR4895, but I think 4350 gave me the best results.

Lou

[Louca]

Thanks kahrguy. No I never took it hunting. This gun was just an exercise in fun building and experimenting. That was why I had the concern regarding its marketability.

The fun I had in building and testing this is priceless. It took me more than 100 hours on the stock alone, mostly because I was learning and took it real slowly. If I do wind up selling this, I would include the stock making hand screws for the M70 action and the Bonanza bench rest die set. Probably did not need the bench rest die set since I only did partial neck sizing, leaving most of the cases in their fire formed state.

Lou

[std7mag]

Beauty rifle!!!

Looking to build one (lighter) on a push feed action...

[tobnpr]

Very nice....
That's easily sold to a long-range benchrest shooter.
That's what I use my Savage action 7-08 for...also with a varmint contour, 26" barrel. With the 162 Amax and H4350 it's a solid shooter at 1000 yards.

Not familiar with the Mod 70 action, but I know it has it's fans.

What's the round count on the barrel? SP's have lousy ballistics...with match grade bullets like the A-Max or SMK, I'd wager those already good groups will tighten up significantly.

[Louca]

What's the round count on the barrel?

According to my records the barrel has only had 55 rounds through it. It has never shot any factory rounds. I started with new brass, and only neck sized the brass after the first firing.

SP's have lousy ballistics...with match grade bullets like the A-Max or SMK, I'd wager those already good groups will tighten up significantly.

Oh well, I guess I didn't hang with the right people that would have known that back then. My only experience with 7mm before that was the 7mm TC/U for a Contender pistol, a totally different animal.

Looks like I might have to meet up with some 1000 yd / Benchrest guys. Ideally, I would like to sell the rifle locally to someone who would take good care of it (I really would hate to ship it anywhere).

Lou

[tjh]

Would make a nice long range groundhog or rockchuck rifle . you may want to check with the varmint hunting crowd .

[ndking1126]

Beautiful rifle that would sell easily at the right price. Now is a good time to sell, even the lowly mosin is selling high right now.

[reynolds357]

So how much do you want for it?
Its a nice rifle. I am interested, but the only thing I do not like is the Douglas barrel.

[LAH]

the only thing I do not like is the Douglas barrel

A bad time with one of their barrels?

[PetahW]

.


The key, with selling a custom-built item (guns included) is to find a prospective buyer that likes/wants it as much/more than whomever had it ( or did it) customized to their taste.

I've found the best way to get the best return for it is to put it in an online auction (like gunbroker.com or auctionarms.com) with plenty of good pics & a very detailed description.

John Q.Public will pretty much let you know exactly how much it's worth, by actually ponying up the gold for it.



.

[reynolds357]

LAH, not really a bad time with a Douglas, but in my experience Douglas is not up to the task of precision shooting. Good hunting barrel. OK varmint barrel. Not competitive at paper punching.

[BigD_in_FL]

As asked, how much do you want? I have a Model 7 in 7-08 that weighs what your barrel does. I might be interested if I knew what your starting asking price is...........................

[LAH]

I had a 721 barreled with a Douglas a little over a year ago. 257 Roberts AI. I fired several groups at 3/8" at a 100 but no chance to really wring the rifle out as a couple 22LR, a 22-250 & 30-06 have taken my time. I am seeing more of them on the 1000 yard firing line including the one used by Douglas' owner, Tim Gardner & his shop foreman Stan Taylor. I think since the owner began shooting the bench game their barrel are improved.

[Louca]

As asked, how much do you want? ... I might be interested if I knew what your starting asking price is.....

Well, I had been using PMs for that since I really didn't know if I actually waned to sell it. OK, laying all my cards down, I can say I have about $1400 into it (in today's dollars). But I realize some guns do not necessarily exactly keep pace with inflation. So possibly it is worth a little less than that? I don't know.

If I did want to sell it, I was going to look locally first to see if there might be interest, since I really am not excited about shipping it anywhere.

Since you asked what I wanted for it and I gave you a vague answer of how much I had into it, could you give me an equally vague reply of how much it might be worth? :-)

I am really finding it difficult to figure the value of it. It does have sentimental value to me, but I am even further from being able to determine a dollar value for that, and maybe I can't.

Lou

[tobnpr]

Hard to guess, Lou. You know what they say- it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

More information on the re-barrel work would be helpful. Was the receiver fully blueprinted by the gunsmith before the barrel was installed? Specifics as to the work done are relative to the value, particularly if receipts(s) back it up.

The problem is that you can only demonstrate a best group of .6 moa- which isn't the real standard used. It's what the rifle can consistently shoot...

Granted, you're handicapped by the fact that you didn't use match-grade bullets, and didn't do extensive load development.

If you had a load "recipe", together with a five-group, five shot each target all showing sub half-minute- it becomes a "proven" shooter rather than a "maybe", and the price is affected accordingly. If you want top dollar, it would behoove you to try to work up the most accurate load for the rifle.